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I was on my way into work today and I was thinking about how civilian car production in the US was essentially halted during WW2.

And it got me thinking about mobilization and about how the entire economic engine of the US was geared towards winning the war.

I also thought about how the war consumed massive amounts of men and reasources for years at a time. That after the war, entire continents were exhausted physically, materially, psychologically.

Then I wondered
What if there were multiple WW2 type wars in the 20th Century?
One that's four or five years long every ten years or so.

And by that I mean, wars where major first world nations (specifically including the US) threw their entire society's reasources into obliterating other first world nations.

So this is what I came up with. It's just some rough notes I jotted down.

1945 World War II Ends

1950-1953 Korean War

1956-1961 World War III - US and NATO vs USSR and Warsaw Pact - Fought in Central and Western Europe and Britain. Major British cities are oblinterated. Soviets come to dominate Central and Western Europe and Briain. The Anglisphere divides.

After the war, the US moves toward isolationism, including removing troops from Japan and Korea.

1969-1973 World War IV - US vs Japan. The US, still recovering psychologically and military from its defeat in World War III loses to a resurgent Japan. Major devistation of the US West Cost from Japanese bombers and ballistic missiles. Hawaii and Alaska are invaded. The US cedes them both to Japan after the War. After the war, the US remembers that isolation doesn't work and takes a more active role in the world.

I figured I'd finish with a bang...

1982-1990 World War V - United States vs USSR & Japan. Major trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific warfare. Major exchanges of conventional ballistic milliles. Communist Chinese go to war with USSR-Japan with US Assistance. Provoked by Soviet agents, Mexico invades the US. US enlists Brazil and Columbia to attack Mexico. Mexico brings in Venezuela. Argentina and Chile also enter the war on opposit sides. Australia joins the war on the US side. India comes to the aid of its biggest trading partner: Japan.

So just to recap:
US
China
Brazil
Columbia
Australia
vs
USSR
Japan
Mexico
Venezuela
India

I thought of some things that you'd only see in a World War, that you wouldn't see in a smaller conflict like Korea or Iraq.

War Drama
Island Hopping
Massive mass production of war materials
Major disruption of trade
Mass armor attack
Strategic bombing and city obliteration
Massive Amphibious Landings
Human wave attacks
Unrestricted submarine warfare
Paratrooper drops
Retaliation bombing
(Yes, I know we saw human wave attacks in Korea and paratrooper drops in Iraq.)

Social Effects (During and after the war)
Conscription
The notion that everyone serves
Victory gardens
People who remember the last war
Rationing
Rapid progress in race relations
Censorship
Rapid tech advances
Widespread egalitarianism
War bonds
War posters
Shortages
Returning vets
Entertainment industry producing propaganda
Rapid wartime promotions
All production geared towards the war

So those are just some random ideas and subjects I had.

The other thing was, if the US lost half a million men each time, what would be the social effects?

The other question I scribbled on my sheet was:
When does it go nuclear?
I had envisioned conventional war, but I hadn't envisioned a total nuclear conflict. I suppose its not unreasonable that small numbers of nukes could be dropped.

So I wanted to throw this brainstorming out there to get feedback.
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